22 June 2016

"Free Angel and Lottie" The Court says you are free to go!

“FREE ANGEL
AND LOTTIE”?

THE
COURT SAYS YOU ARE FREE TO GO

Remember the expelled members’ campaIgn to “Free Angel
and Lottie”?

This is to gain sympathy from the public and to malign
the Church Administration. They wanted the public, especially the members of
the Church, to believe that Angel and Lottie are being taken hostage, unlawfully detained, harassed and
their rights are violated. They wanted to be freed?

The court says they are free to go!

COURT ORDERS EVICTION OF OCCUPANTS OF

INC PROPERTY AT 36 TANDANG SORA

(Eagle News) – A
Metropolitan Trial Court (MeTC) has ordered the illegal occupants of the
Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) property at 36 Tandang Sora Avenue in Quezon City to
“immediately vacate” the said Church premises.

This
was the court’s decision in the “unlawful detainer” case filed by the INC
against the property’s illegal occupants, namely expelled INC members Lolita
“Lottie” Hemedez and Felix Nathaniel “Angel” V. Manalo. The case was filed in
February this year following Lottie and Angel’s continued refusal to vacate the
premises despite repeated demands from INC.

In
a six-page decision, Manila MeTC Branch 12 Judge Anne Perpetual Rivera-Sia
directed the said expelled members to “immediately vacate” the INC’s 36 Tandang
Sora property and to immediately surrender it to the INC.

The
Court ruled that the stay of the siblings was no longer legal. It was merely
“tolerated” by the property’s real owner, the INC. When they were expelled from
the Church after they violated Church doctrines, this “tolerance” ended.

The
Court also directed the defendants to pay the plaintiff, the INC, the amount of
P2,420 for costs of filing of the suit.

The
Manila MeTC court rendered the decision for Quezon City MeTC branch 43 “as all
civil cases raffled” to the Quezon City court were forwarded to the Manila
court pursuant to a Supreme Court Resolution for the designation of “assisting
courts.”

“Based
on the allegations, defendants’ stay on the property is based on tolerance.
Defendants’ occupation of the property was initially lawful but later on turned
out as illegal due to their refusal to vacate the property after lawful
demand,” the Decision said.

The
defendants were expelled from the INC on July 23, 2015 for “grave violation” of
the INC’s doctrines.

With
the expulsion, the INC asserted that the defendants have lost their privilege
to stay on the property.

On
December 28, 2015, the INC sent the defendants a “notice of termination with
demand to vacate the property.”

When
the defendants refused to receive the notice, the said notice was posted on the
gate of the property fence in the presence of barangay officials of New Era,
Quezon City.

Another
letter dated January 14, 2016, demanded the defendants to vacate the property
with insistence for payment of reasonable compensation for the use of the INC
property. When the defendants again refused to acknowledge receipt of the
letter, the notice was again posted at the 36. T. Sora gate and also sent
through registered mail.

Even
with these legal notices, Lottie and Angel, including their companions, still
refused to vacate the Church property, and instead openly challenged the INC
Church Administration.

In
its decision, the court noted that the INC has complied with all the
requirements provided by law in such cases.

“The
formal demands to vacate posted and sent to defendants as the filing of this
suit, are categorical acts on the part of the plaintiff showing that its
withdrawal of permission to having defendants to stay on the property,” it
said.

“Notwithstanding,
defendants have regrettably failed to vacate the premises and surrender the
same to plaintiff,” the court noted.

INC
spokesperson minister Edwil Zabala said that the INC “followed the procedures
laid down by law” and that the court’s decision was a “vindication” for the
Church.

“The
Court has resolved in favor of the Church ordering the occupants of 36 Tandang
Sora to immediately vacate the premises they unlawfully detain. We have stood
by the position that the facts as supported by evidence would give vindication
to the Church,” he said.

“We
are now studying the enforcement of the decision in the said ejectment case,”
Zabala added.

(Eagle News) –
The Iglesia Ni Cristo said it is expecting the illegal occupants led by
expelled INC members Felix Nathaniel “Angel” Manalo and his sister, Lolita
“Lottie” Hemedez to peacefully leave the premises of 36 Tandang Sora Avenue in
Quezon City, now that no less than the court has directed them to “immediately
vacate” the INC property.

In
a press conference held at the Eagle Broadcasting Corporation (EBC) in Quezon
City, INC spokesperson minister Edwil Zabala and lawyer for the INC, Atty.
Moises Tolentino Jr., said that the favorable decision of the Manila
metropolitan trial court dated May 26, 2016 was “immediately executory.”

“We
hope they would leave peacefully the compound now that there is a court
decision,” Zabala said during the presscon.

“We
waited for five months for this Decision. We did abide by the procedures
laid down by the law,” he said.

The
court also ordered the two to immediately surrender the property to the INC.

Zabala
said INC lawyers received the decision on Thursday, June 16.

“We
gladly welcome this recent decision as another vindication of the Church,” he
said.

Lawyer
Tolentino said that under the Rules, “a judgment on an unlawful detainer case
is immediately executory”.

“Proper
steps will be taken,” he said.

On
June 24, Friday, the court will hear the motion for the execution of judgment.

“We
will wait for the issuance of the writ of execution and that is what we are
asking the court through the motion that will be heard on June 24. We
expect this to be issued soon,” Atty. Tolentino said. “We cannot
say the exact date but it will not take long.”

The
INC lawyer explained that no motion for reconsideration is allowed in an
“unlawful detainer” case which was the case filed by the INC against Angel
Manalo and Lottie Hemedez in February this year. The INC originally filed
an eviction case on January 14, 2016, but amended it on February 17 into an
unlawful detainer suit.

“Based
on the allegations, defendants’ stay on the property is based on
tolerance. Defendants’ occupation of the property was initially lawful
but later on turned out as illegal due to their refusal to vacate the property
after lawful demand,” the Decision said.

The
defendants were expelled from the INC on July 23, 2015 for “grave violation” of
the INC’s doctrines.

With
the expulsion, the INC asserted that the defendants have lost their privilege
to stay on the property.

Up
to now, the INC also has no idea of the number and identity of unauthorized
persons inside its own compound since even INC security guards are also
prevented by the illegal occupants from entering the INC property they are
occupying, Zabala and Tolentino both stressed.

The
INC has earlier filed an injunction case against the defendants with a Quezon
City court that sought to ban the entry of unknown and unauthorized
inviduals from entering the INC premises.

With
the Manila court’s decision in the “unlawful detainer” case, however, this
injunction case is rendered “moot and academic,” Tolentino explained.

Tolentino
also hopes that the defendants would just leave the INC premises peacefully,
and abide by the decision of the court.

“I
don’t think they will resist, because this time, it is already the full force
of the law that they will be challenging,” he said.

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